A good innings...but I still miss her

I had to say goodbye to my old girl at the weekend.

She'd been with me for years... I found her early one morning in 1991 on the way to work and she couldn't jump into my car quick enough. She was a lovely girl and very tolerant, even when I brought other cats and dogs into her life

She travelled around the country with me...in fact my friends used to joke that she had more frequent flyer points than me

I miss her. A lot.

Friday Flower...on Saturday

I'm a bit late with this little beauty

It's Blue Bijou and I bought it with a couple of Blue Moon roses last year

It's such a gorgeous colour...subtle at first, then the shade deepens

It's planted at the back of the house at the moment, right near the tap. It's another one I thought I'd lost but it seems to be thriving there in it's little patch.

Have a great weekend, whatever you have planned.

Secret Garden?

We have great neighbours!

It's a fact. Lots of people never get to know who lives next door to them, or who's across the street...but we're lucky to know a lot of our neighbours, to the degree we all get together a few times a year for casserole nights, BBQ's, a quick Friday night pizza or a trip down to the local RSL for a meal...our table can get rather large though because we usually have to book for up to 14 + kids, depending on who can make it.

Our neighbours are so good, a few years back we decided to "get connected"

This photo isn't of a gate leading to a Number 10 secret garden...It's better than that.

It's a gate MONT and his mate, Man of Number 12 put in to connect us.. It makes so much sense when we want to have a quick catch-up drink on a Sunday afternoon or if one of us needs something like an egg or milk or whatever. It's also been terrific because when the kids next door were getting to an age where they could stay home alone, but still needed/wanted the security of someone close by, we'd just wedge the gate open so they could come straight through to get either me or Mont if they needed us.

We all find it pretty amazing that the occupants of 7 houses in our street all get on so darn well. Some go fishing together, other's play golf...most of us just get together for drinks and food...

How many of your neighbours do you know... and do you get together much?

Friday flower - Dioressence

I thought I'd follow Sarah's  lead and do a Friday flower this week.

Sarah always has lovely Friday flowers and when I saw this little beauty starting to bud  I thought I'd get the camera out and join in

This is my Dior Essence rose that I bought last year...I think it was last year. Most of the flowers at Number 10 are white and I wanted something to "pop" in the garden. My original plan was to have a few pinkish coloured roses growing along the front fence so they look nice against the white pickets, but that hasn't happened yet.

Actually I thought I'd lost her when she got a bit neglected last Summer...but she's back with a vengeance! She's been sitting behind the shed near our water tank, and just started blooming...thank goodness

I put her in the white planter on the back deck so I could watch each little bud emerge...I'm so happy she's still with me

Blogging Your Way

I was reading A-M's blog,  as I do each day, about when you blog and what you blog about. ...whether you prepare blog posts en masse to post through the week, or just write what pops into your head whenever you think of something.

I've loved  The House that A-M Built  for a long time now, even after said house was completed and lived in and then sold. Blogging is about life, the everyday happenings, if that's what you want it to be that is. I mean it's your blog and it can be about any darn thing you want, that's the beauty of it

It got me thinking about another blog I pop into occasionally...where it was giving advice on how to get more comments on your blog posts. Apparently the person imparting the advice said she didn't leave comments if the blog had the comment verification thingy...and she also disliked too many links in a blog post. Too busy and confusing I think...and I thought gee, that's a bit harsh. I mean if you like someones blog then why can't you just enjoy it and go with it?

Some people use their blogs to show you how they make things, others use them to help them sell things, while others just use them as a way of detailing their lives with their kids/husbands/renovations etc...others see them as a business opportunity by allowing ads or taking on sponsors...I mean, it's your blog, do what you want with it

It's interesting though when other bloggers try to impart their wisdom on how you should or shouldn't do this or that and why they won't comment on your blog because they don't like something about it.

Well, the only advice I'll give is this: blog any darn way you like... if it's interesting, I'll read it and leave a comment, no matter what hoops I have to jump through.

Lucky?

Is it true they're only lucky if their trunks are in the air?

Two out of three aint bad then huh?

I've had these little beauties for a long time now. All of them bought in different places but they all go together so well....they look like a family

Just Chillin' at home

The weekend was pretty "BIG", what with MONT's birthday shindig etc. It was a very late night with a couple of our guests kicking on till 5am...too much for me I must admit.

The dogs were sent away for the night so they didn't get underfoot...but it looks like they part-ayed the night away too.

It was hard to get them going on Sunday...

...or Monday.

They made sure they were around for dinner though.

This one stayed at home and welcomed everyone at the front door.

Then spent Sunday in front of the heater dozing.

This appears to be her favourite position at the moment

Baking again

I seem to be posting more about cooking/baking lately, but that's what I've been doing at Number 10 more than anything else

It was MONT's birthday at the weekend (a milestone number) so we had a bit of a shindig with some friends on Saturday night. I offered to make his birthday cake and while he's not a fan of candles and the whole "happy birthday" thing, he agreed, as long as it wasn't chocolate...so this is the one I turned to.

If you like things a little tart, then you'll love this.

It's wonderful as afternoon tea with a cuppa...or as dessert.

Or as a birthday cake....It's as easy as pie and you can check the recipe here

Hope you like it

I knead you...or not

Another post about baking bread again, but this is one of those easy, no fuss recipes where you go..."wow, how did I achieve that?"

It's a good one if you've never made bread before because you really don't have to do anything except mix four ingredients together and let it sit on the bench for a few hours.

...and this is what you can end up with

I think that's a great return for very little effort

Oh...and it tastes pretty darn good too!

The recipe's here

Perspective

I was getting a bit hot under the collar the other day about something that, in the big scheme of things, was pretty insignificant. I can get carried away sometimes but I usually snap out of it and quickly return to reality

...and that's just what happened to me while watching the ABC's Four Corners program this week.

For those of you not in Australia, "Four Corners" is a long running investigative/current affairs show that is very highly regarded here. It's broadcast on a Monday night at 8.30 and this week it was about poverty, from the perspective of a child, specifically, three British children.

While watching it I found myself smiling broadly, listening in disbelief and shedding a few tears. My heart ached for them all.

The children involved were wise beyond their years...all were down to earth and amazingly, remained "hopeful" for their futures.

It gave me a BIG reality check

The link to the program is here. Not sure if you can see it if you're not in Australia, but I encourage you to try, it's well worth a look.

11 year old Sam is particularly wonderful. His delight at having something as simple as a "real" haircut is simply delicious.

Planter - spruced up

MONT and I bought this planter a couple of years ago so it could hold a plant next to the front door, but I have to admit the colour never really did it for me

It was a pinkish/mushroomy colour and didn't really match anything we had. It also had a terrible mark on it, left by a price sticker from the nursery and a water mark around the bottom from it's days of sitting in a large saucer in the rain

So it was time for a coat of paint

Out came the roller and undercoat

...and yes, I had some help with the top coats...

One good undercoat and two top coats of exterior acrylic in white and it was good as gold.

Another little job done

Tidying up...

I can't take credit for coming up with this, I think I first saw it on the "Making it Lovely" blog...but am happy to be corrected. It was some time ago so my memory is a little blurred

It's a brilliant idea...simple but brilliant

I was getting tired of seeing cords and phones right near the electric kettle, especially when I need the bench space.

If you have a spot in the kitchen or study where you charge your phones and have cords and chargers lying around everywhere, then why not try this...a nice little jar or canister to hide them away

I don't have a lot of bench space in the kitchen and this area was always looking cluttered and messy

Not any more.

You can go from this...

To this.


I bought my little ceramic canister from a bathroom place for about $2. It had a stone/latte coloured section around the middle, so I got the spray paint out and gave it a couple of squirts to make it the same as the body of the canister.

What do you think?

It certainly tidies up the little bench next to the sink

UPDATE: It was Nicole's idea over at "Making it Lovely" and you can find it here as well,where she did a guest post